Allen Richard "Dick" Penner (born 1936 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is an American retired professor of English, who, while in college in 1955, co-composed, with Wade Lee Moore "Ooby Dooby," which was recorded and released by Wade Moore and Rod Barkley. The song was later given away and became a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

hit for

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

. Penner also had been a singer, guitar player, and recording artist. In 1956, Penner switched from country music to rock & roll. That same year, he and Wade Moore (born November 15, 1934 in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

) formed a duo and recorded for

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

. The duo was known as "Wade & Dick—The College Kids." Wade & Dick recorded three songs (with guitarist Don Gililland), "Wild Woman," "Don't Need Your Lovin'," and "Bop Bop Baby," which was included on the album ''

Walk the Line ''Walk the Line'' is a 2005 American biographical musical romantic drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies authored by singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, 1975's '' Man ...

'', the soundtrack of the eponymous film biography of

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

. Penner recorded four on his own (with guitarist "Gypsy" Bob Izer). All four songs exhibited a hard, youthful edge that was targeted towards the then new teen market. Penner's four singles — (i) "Move Baby Move," (ii) "Fine Little Baby," Sun 615a, and (iii) "Cindy Lou," and (iv) "Honey Love" Sun 282 consisted of both Rockabilly and ballads. The songs did not rise to the popularity of "Ooby Dooby;" which reached a formidable level on the national charts in Orbison's hands and, eventually, became regarded as a classic of the genre. Moore was in business following his college graduation. After receiving his M.A. from

North Texas State The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

, Penner earned a Ph.D. from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. He was a professor of English at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

for thirty-two years until his retirement in 1990. Penner authored three academic books, his favorite being ''Fiction of the Absurd.''

Compositions

By Dick Penner & Wade Moore * "Ooby-Dooby," Allen Richard Penner & Wade Lee Moore ( BMI) (written February 1955) * "Bop Bop Baby," Allen Richard Penner & Wade Lee Moore ( BMI) By Dick Penner * "Cindy Lou," Allen Richard Penner ( BMI) (1957) * "Your Honey Love," Allen Richard Penner ( BMI) (1957) * "Someday Baby," Allen Richard Penner * "Don't Need Your Lovin' Baby," Allen Richard Penner ( BMI) * "Move Baby Move," Allen Richard Penner ( BMI) * "Fine Little Baby," Allen Richard Penner ( BMI) * "When Will You Love Me?" ( BMI) * "Wild Woman" ( BMI)

"Ooby Dooby"

In 1954, Penner had enrolled at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

where he met Wade Moore. They composed "Ooby Dooby" in February 1955. Penner and Wade had taken a six-pack of beer onto the flat roof of their Lambda Chi fraternity house and wrote "Ooby Dooby" in a matter of minutes. Wade Moore later recorded a version of "Ooby Dooby" with Rod Barkley. After the recording of "Ooby Dooby" Rod Barkley quit the music business and moved back to his hometown of Gruver, Texas. Roy Orbison, then a student at North Texas and friend, became aware of the song and, sometime late in 1955, recorded a demo of it, together with “Hey, Miss Fannie”, with his band, the Wink Westerners, at the Jim Beck Studio in Dallas, and sent it to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Columbia was not interested in Orbison, but pitched the song to Sid King and the Five Strings, a band from

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

, who recorded it on March 5, 1956, in Dallas. A second recording of "Ooby Dooby" by Orbison took place at the Norman Petty studios in Clovis, New Mexico and according to the authorised biography of Roy Orbison, this recording was Orbison's first record, released on Je-Wel 101 in March 1956. On March 20, 1956, a Roy Orbison session was set at Sam Phillips'

Sun Studio Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label ...

, 706 Union Avenue, Memphis and "Ooby Dooby" was released yet again on Sun 242. By June 1956, the single had climbed to 59 on

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Hot 100 and soon thereafter, sold over 250,000 copies. Orbison's version was featured in the movie '' Star Trek: First Contact'' as the favorite song on the jukebox of Zefram Cochrane (

James Cromwell James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American actor and activist. Some of his best-known films include ''Babe'' (1995), '' Star Trek: First Contact'' (1996), ''L.A. Confidential'' (1997), '' The Green Mile'' (1999), ''The Queen'' ...

); played by Cochrane while meeting with the

Vulcans Vulcans, sometimes referred to as Vulcanians, are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the ''Star Trek'' universe and media franchise. In the various ''Star Trek'' television series and films, they are noted for their attempt to l ...

who landed on Earth after detecting his first

warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...

flight, the song is the first element of Human culture shared with an alien race. The song has been covered by several other artists, including

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

, on their album ''

Cosmo's Factory ''Cosmo's Factory'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records in July 1970. Six of the album's eleven tracks were released as singles in 1970, and all of them charted in the top 5 o ...

''. Penner, now retired, was a professor of English literature at the

Selected discography

Wade & Dick – The College Kids :1)

No. 269 (released May 27, 1957) ::"Bop Bop Baby" ( BMI U-250) ::backed with ("bw") "Don't Need Your Lovin' Baby" ( BMI U-251) :2)

(released 1956) ::"Bop Bop Baby" (alternate version) ( BMI U-250) ::backed with ("bw") "Wild Woman" Dick Penner :1)

No. 615 (1957) :: "Move Baby Move" ( BMI) :: backed with ("bw") ''Fine Little Baby'' ( BMI) :2)

No. 282 :: "Your Honey Love" ( BMI U-278) Recordings of "Ooby-Dooby"'' * Single – Wade Moore & Rod Barkley with B-Side When Will You Love Me (1955) * Album – ''

Roy Orbison at the Rock House According to the discography in ''The Authorized Roy Orbison'', ''Roy Orbison at the Rock House'' is the 1st album by Orbison on the Sun Records label in 1961 (Orbison's second LP release), at a time when Orbison had already moved to the Monument ...

'',

(1961) : Track list includes "Ooby Dooby" * The Teen Kings (1956) *

Janis Martin Janis Darlene Martin (March 27, 1940 – September 3, 2007) was an American rockabilly and country music singer. She was one of the few women working in the male-dominated rock and roll music field during the 1950s and one of country music ...

(1956) *

(July 25, 1970) *

Charlie Feathers Charles Arthur Feathers (June 12, 1932 – August 29, 1998) was an American musician most associated with the rockabilly scene of the 1950s. Although not initially recognized for his contributions to rockabilly, over time his presence would bec ...

(1977) * Los Super Ratones (1993) *

Elizabeth Mitchell Elizabeth Mitchell (born Elizabeth Joanna Robertson) is an American actress known for her lead role as Juliet Burke on the ABC drama mystery series ''Lost'' (2006–2010). Mitchell also had lead roles on the television series '' V'' (2009–201 ...

(December 2002)

Audio samples

Education

Penner graduated from Sunset High School (1954) in the North

Oak Cliff Oak Cliff is a neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; Dallas annexed Oak Cliff in 1901. It has since retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older established neighborhoods. Oak Cl ...

area of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. Penner earned a Bachelor of Arts in English (1958) and a master's degree in English (1967) from the

. In 1957, while working on his undergraduate degree, Penner was inducted into Blue Key, a national honor fraternity. After earning his master's degree, Penner taught English at North Texas. In the fall of 1961, Penner began teaching English at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in English from the

in 1965, whereupon, he became an instructor of English at the

University of Tennessee at Knoxville The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

Family

First marriage : On June 10, 1961, Penner married Janice Carolyn Gilley in

.''Mr. Penner, Bride Go to New Boulder Home'', ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'', June 11, 1961 Janice was born January 2, 1937 in

and died October 26, 2004 in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. : Dick and Jan have two sons, Richard Lee Penner of Charlotte, NC and Gregory Joseph Penner of Knoxville, TN.

Academic publications

* Allen Richar Penner, PhD, '' Fielding and

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

: The Contribution of "

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

" to "

Joseph Andrews ''The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams'', was the first full-length novel by the English author Henry Fielding to be published and among the early novels in the English language. Appearing in 1742 ...

" and " Tom Jones" (dissertation) University of Colorado at Boulder (1965) * Allen Richard Penner, ''

Alan Sillitoe Alan Sillitoe Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (4 March 192825 April 2010) was an English writer and one of the so-called "angry young men" of the 1950s. He disliked the label, as did most of the other writers to whom it was appl ...

'',

Twayne Publishers Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Gro ...

(1972) * Allen Richard Penner, ''Fiction of the Absurd; Pratfalls in the Void – a critical anthology'',

New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publishe ...

(1980) * Allen Richard Penner, ''Countries of the mind: the fiction of

J.M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee Order of Mapungubwe, OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and de ...

'',

Greenwood Press Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...

(1989) * Allen Richard Penner, ''Illuminations''

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

(2001)

References

External links

Dick Penner biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penner, Dick 1936 births Living people Songwriters from Illinois Musicians from Chicago University of North Texas alumni Music of Denton, Texas People from Oak Cliff, Texas Roy Orbison